Geris Flashcards
How sensitive and specific is CAM (Confusion Assessment Method)
What does it involve?
94% sensitive, 89% specific
Acute onset, Inattention + either impaired consciousness or disorganised thinking
How to differentiate between delirium and dementia?
Delirium: acute, fluctuating, not orientated, impaired attention
Dementia: insidious onset, progressive, attention normally intact
What does the timed up and go test assess?
Mobility, balance and falls risk
Normal < 10s
Increased risk of falls in community dwelling adults >13.5s
Assesses falls risk
82yo mane presents with difficulty walking due to OA in his right hip. When prescribing a single point stick as a walking aide for him, the most appropriate instruction regarding use of the cane is:
Hold the cane on left hand and advance SPS with right leg - hold SPS in the “good” hand and advance with SPS with the ‘bad” leg
CADASIL - cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukenoencephalopathy
lacunar infarct, family history of dementia, dementia at young age, white matter disease, notch 3 gene, chromosome 19
Signs of normal pressure hydrocephalus
Cognitive impairment
Urinary incontinence
Dyspraxic gait
In Lewy Body dementia, what develops first - the dementia or parksinsons?
Dementia occurs first and then parkinsons later
What can help diagnose lewy body dementia?
SPECT scan - sensitivity 90%, specificity 100%
Low dopamine transporter uptake in basal ganglia on SPECT
3 types of frontotemporal lobar degeneration
- Frontotemporal dementia (Pick’s disease)
- Progressive non fluent aphasia (chronic progressive aphasia, CPA)
- Semantic dementia
Name 3 cholinesterase inhibitors use to treated Alzheimers
Donepezil
Rivastigamine
Galantamine
“Dona Riva dances at the nursing home gala:” Donepezil, rivastigmine, and galantamine.
Benefit of cholinesterase inhibitors in Alzheimers
Improve cognitive function and improvement in activities of daily living
Adverse effects of cholinesterase inhibitors
- GIT symptoms: upset stomach, nausea, diarrhoea, anorexia, weight loss occurs in 20-30% of patients
Toxicity dose related, often resolves with time and dose reduction - Bradycardia from cholinergic toxicity
- Headaches
- Sleep disturbances like insomnia, vivid dreams, nightmares(happens with donepezil)
- Can worsen urge incontinence
- rarely rhabdo and NMS
Contraindications of cholinesterase inhibitors
Bradycardia, sick sinus syndrome, heart block, risk of fall/syncope/fractures
Mechanism of action of memantine and SE
NMDA antagonist used for moderate to severe Alzheimers
SE: headaches, dizziness, confusion, hallucinations , seizures
Should not use anticholinergic substances, eg: tricyclic antidepressants
Pathology of AD
- Neuritic plaques (amyloid beta) accumulating extracellularly
- Neurofibrillary tangles (phosphorylated tau) accumulating intracellularly
What infarcts are normally seen in vascular dementia?
Lacunar infarcts
What might be see on the SPECT scan for LBD?
Decreased occipital perfusion/metabolism
Pathology of lewy body dementia
a-synuclein
What might be see on the SPECT scan for frontotemporal dementia
Metabolic disorders in frontal and temporal lobes
What is order of language impairment in AD
naming - comprehension - fluency
Gene involved in familial alzheimer’s disease and what chromsome it is located on
PSEN1 on chromosome 14
What chromosome is amyloid precursor protein located on?
chromosome 21
Which allele has the strongest association with Alzheimer’s Disease
APOE4 alleles have the strongest associated with AD. Located on chromosome 19. one copy of E4 = 2x increased risk, 2 copies of E4 = 8x increased risk
Which dementia are associated with tau?
Corticobasal degeneratin
Alzheimer’s Disease
Progressive supranuclear palsy
T-CAP